Support in Daily Life

Workspaces for the Visually Impaired

The Freiburg University Library is equipped with specially designed workspaces for blind and visually impaired students. For information on the workspaces, where they are located, how to reserve a workspace, and the responsible contact person, please visit the University Library website.

Accessible Library

Consult the accessibility web pages of the University Library for all important information on the new disabled-accessible Freiburg University Library. The University Library provides barrier-free access and workspaces.

IT Services Department of the University of Freiburg

The IT Services Department has an accessible side entrance. All floors of the building can be accessed with an elevator; There are accessible restrooms on the ground floor.
For more information, please read the website of the IT Services Department.

List of Induction Loops and Transmitters

Map of the University of Freiburg

Click here for maps including all important architectural details on buildings and rooms at the University of Freiburg:
www.uni-freiburg.de/universitaet/kontakt-und-wegweiser/lageplaene

Room Changes

Students who cannot take a course held in a room that is difficult to access on account of a disability may request to have the location of the course changed. Please speak to the teacher of the course early on or contact the Central Lecture Hall Assignment Department (Mr. Lais).
If you encounter problems, please contact the representative for students with a disability/chronic illness.

Accessible Dormitories of the Studierendenwerk (SWFR)

In Freiburg, the SWFR offers accessible dormitory rooms for students with various needs at the Student Village in Vauban, on Berliner Allee, on Händelstraße, at the Student Village at Seepark, and on the campus of the Faculty of Engineering. The Student Village at Seepark has one apartment each for the hearing and the visually impaired.

If you would like to apply for an accessible dormitory room, please contact the Studierendenwerk directly.

More information is available via the following link or on the page of the respective dormitory:

https://www.swfr.de/wohnen/wohnheime/barrierefreies-wohnen/

Contact:

wohnen@swfr.de

Integration Assistance

Some disabled students can only complete a course of study with outside help or special financial support. Under the provisions of integration assistance, the government provides funding for various services to support disabled persons if their own financial means or income are not sufficient and if no other person or organization is responsible for providing them such services. Monetary payments are always subordinate in relation to other forms of assistance.
“The special task of participation in education is to provide those entitled to benefits with a school education that corresponds to their abilities and achievements and to provide schooling, higher education, and further training for a profession that promotes their participation in society” (§ 90 paragraph 4, part 2 of the German Social Code [SGB] IX).
The agency responsible for granting integration assistance is the social assistance office of the municipality in which you live. If you live in Freiburg, it is the Office for Social Affairs and Seniors (Amt für Soziales und Senioren). Before you apply, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the prerequisites and the verification procedure in person at the office.

Stadt Freiburg, Amt für Soziales und Senioren
Abteilung 3,  Eingliederungshilfe
Fehrenbachallee 12
79106 Freiburg
Tel.: +49 (0)761/201-3507
ass@stadt.freiburg.de
https://www.freiburg.de/pb/-/205348/oe6009394

More information and how to apply

Study Assistants

Study assistants are generally fellow students in the same semester of study or higher who help disabled persons with routine tasks related to their studies. Examples include taking notes for disable students in lecture courses; helping them to prepare for class, review material, and/or use the library; or, in the case of visually impaired students, reading material to them out loud.
It is possible to apply for integration assistance to cover the cost of a study assistant.
As a rule, students find their assistants on their own, for instance on the Student Job Portal of the Studierendenwerk.

Psychotherapeutic Counseling Service at the Studierendenwerk Freiburg-Schwarzwald

The Psychotherapeutic Counseling Service at the Studierendenwerk Freiburg offers individual counseling sessions. An appointment is required. Once a week, there is also an open consultation hour that may be taken advantage of without a prior appointment.
It is also possible to receive counseling in English, French, Chinese, and Slovenian. All counseling sessions are of course strictly confidential.
In addition, the Psychotherapeutic Counseling Service offers numerous workshops and seminars on the topic “studying with success.”

Contact
Appointments for individual counseling and registration for seminars:
Mon. through Fri., 9 a.m. to 12 noon, and by appointment with
Rosa Meyer
Studierendenwerk Freiburg-Schwarzwald, Basler Str. 2
Tel. +49 (0)761/2101-269,
r.meyer@swfr.de
Open consultation hour (no appointment necessary)
Wed., 1 to 2 p.m.

Nursing and Health Insurance

Students matriculated at public or state-approved higher education institutions are required to have health and nursing insurance. Choosing the right health insurance agency is particularly important for students with a disability or chronic illness because the range of services they offer can vary greatly. Gather as much information as you can about health and nursing insurance. Check whether medical treatment related to your disability can be covered. Speak with several health insurance agencies and compare their range of services. Also be sure to check whether an accident insurance provider or the pension office is liable to pay you benefits.
The Social Advising Service of the Studierendenwerk offers advice on nursing and health insurance.

Social Advising Service of the Studierendenwerk Freiburg-Schwarzwald
Advising on Living, Financing, and Social Issues

Contact
Barbara Toth and Nerea Ulrich
Studierendenwerk Freiburg-Schwarzwald
Basler Str. 2
79100 Freiburg
Tel.: +49 (0)761 2101-233
sozialberatung@swfr.de
http://www.swfr.de
 
Office Hours
Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon

Thursday, 1:30 to 4 p.m.
and by prior appointment arranged by telephone

Identity Card for Severely Disabled Persons

You may apply for an identity card for severely disabled persons at your pension office (§ 152 of the German Social Code [SGB] IX). The pension office must establish that you have a degree of disability of at least 50 %. Your legal place of residence, habitual abode, or work must lie within the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Germany. Persons whose degree of disability is not severe enough to qualify them as severely disabled but is at least 30 % may – if they otherwise fail to find or hold an appropriate job as a result of their disability – be treated as severely disabled.
Certain holders of an identity card for severely disabled persons may, depending on what kind of disability they have, also apply each year for a supplement to the card granting them free use of public transportation. For details and information on how to apply, please contact the Freiburg Pension Office.

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Pension Office
Disability affairs and social right to compensation for the urban district of Freiburg and the rural district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Contact

Landratsamt Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

Sautierstr. 28

79104 Freiburg

Tel. +49 (0)761 2187-9360

schwerbehindertenrecht@lkbh.de

Mobility Training

For blind and visually impaired students, getting around the university is a special challenge. The blind and visually impaired are often dependent on help, particularly when they are new in town or need to find their way around in a new environment like a university. Mobility training can help these students to regain their accustomed confidence. Individual mobility training courses are available in Freiburg and are covered by health insurance if prescribed by a doctor. One institution offering mobility training in Freiburg is the South Baden Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverein Südbaden):
Contact
Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverein Südbaden
Wölflinstraße 13
79104 Freiburg
Tel.: +49 (0)761/36122

Eurokey

Several elevators at the University of Freiburg (e.g., in KG I and KG III, at Sedanstraße 6, in the computer lab on Rempartstraße, and in the cafeteria at Rempartstraße) are only accessible with a special key, the so-called Eurokey. In Germany this key can often also be used to access public restrooms for the disabled and is thus also useful outside of the university.

The Eurokey is distributed in Germany by CBF Darmstadt (Club Behinderter und ihrer Freunde, Darmstadt und Umgebung e.V.).

In Freiburg, it is also possible to purchase a Eurokey for a small fee at the Office for Social Affairs and Seniors.

Public Transportation: VAG Freiburg

Freiburg’s public transportation authority VAG Freiburg has a fleet of low-floor buses and trams. The buses can generally be lowered and are equipped with a fold-out wheelchair ramp. To use the ramp, please ask the driver.
Some tram stops have a raised platform, allowing wheelchair access without a ramp. These stops are identified on the tram network map and on the pages providing details on each stop.

IMPORTANT: Unfortunately, not all of the platforms at the Bertoldsbrunnen junction are wheelchair accessible. The following platforms may be used to get on and off the tram using a ramp:

§  Line 1 (Salzstraße)

§  Lines 2, 3, and 5 (in front of Schafferer)  

§  Lines 3 and 5 (in front of the dm drugstore)

§  Lines 2 and 4 (in front of Galeria Kaufhof and WMF / Müller drugstore)

To make it as easy as possible for persons with restricted mobility or impaired vision to get on and off trams and buses, VAG has put together a brochure with the most important information on the individual vehicles and stops.
The buses in the suburban and rural areas surrounding Freiburg are not run by the VAG but by other companies, such as SBG and SWEG, and are not always wheelchair accessible.

More information

§  VAG Freiburg – Accessibility

§  RVF – Accessibility

§  DB Südbadenbus – Accessibility

§  VAG Network Freiburg

Studying with a Disability Information and Advice Center of the Deutsches Studentenwerk (IBS)

The IBS offers extensive information on studying with a disability or chronic illness.

Contact:

IBS

Monbijouplatz 11
D-10178 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30/297727-64

studium-behinderung@studentenwerke.de

www.studentenwerke.de/behinderung/